An annual program that puts local archivists in the spotlight will return to the Senator John Heinz History Center on Sunday. Treasures in the Archives, now in its 12th year, will delve into artifacts from four of the History Center’s historic collections. But the one-day event comes with a twist: rather than hearing from outside researchers or historians, the collections are presented by the archivists devoted to preserving them.
“This is the quintessential behind-the-scenes event within an archives,” said senior outreach archivist Sierra Green. “We really do lift the veil on the work that we do.”
Originally inspired by American Archives Month, a nationwide effort, “Treasures” aims to showcase archivists’ work while fostering a deeper connection to local history.
“It really is an insider-style program with insights into a variety of topics that you just wouldn’t typically come across in your exploration of bigger chapters of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania history,” Green said.
Sunday’s presentations include a tour of Pittsburgh’s emerging post-war Jewish suburbs by Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish Archives, and a glimpse into the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire records by Matthew Strauss, director of the History Center’s Detre Library and Archives.
Strauss’ talk will feature a series of early 20th-century photographs documenting local fires, firehouses, fire engines and city employees by photographer William Patterson, nicknamed Scrappy.
Margaret Hewitt, manager of reference services, will give a look into “The Storagram,” the in-house magazine of Pittsburgh’s famed Kaufmann’s Department Store.
Kaufmann’s employees, who called themselves Kaufmannites, wrote and published monthly newsletters that included updates on marriages, births, travel and more somber dispatches during World War II, providing a comprehensive view of employees’ lives.
“These in-house magazines are among the most overlooked but richest sources within our collections,” Green said. “They give you a really intimate glimpse both into the working lives of these employees and the working culture.”
Efforts led by Hewitt are underway to digitize in-house magazines like “The Storagram” (and those with equally funny names like Horne’s department store’s the “Horn-Pipe,” H. J. Heinz Company’s “The Pickler” and Gulf Oil Corporation’s the “Gulf Oilmanac.”)
Exploring Kaufmann’s history also dovetails with a blue-collar ancestry series Green launched last year that invites Pittsburghers to explore their family’s history in specific industries. She hopes events like “Treasures” offer another entrée into that local history.
Green herself will present on the life of Dr. Violette Eash. The daughter of a coal mining family in Somerset County, Eash survived a devastating childhood illness to become a tenured professor devoted to counseling and teaching. While she underwent 10 months of experimental treatment at Children’s Hospital in the 1950s, her family kept detailed records, including medical bills, letters, “lovingly annotated” photos and “even the rods that were in (Eash)’s legs,” among “countless other items that together powerfully and enduringly reflect her story,” Green said.
“One of the beautiful things about ‘Treasures’ is, because it’s storytelling by archivists, we weave the footnotes into the narrative of the story,” Green added. “In this case, the family did not only love and nurture their daughter through this illness, but they also set aside and kept the individual sources that speak to the scale of their love and care.”
Green said that, ultimately, “Treasures” serves as an invitation to the History Center’s public archives, which are free to visit.
“We don’t collect these materials just to keep them behind locked doors,” Green said. “These materials are here to be used. We are very passionate about folks digging into our collections, and we are here to help facilitate that.”